Highway Robbery
by Nytel
Summary: Written for the prompt 'John naked and tied up'. JohnTeyla. In my mind this is set sometime in season 3, but it doesn't really matter, as there aren't any timeline references.


**Highway Robbery**

Teyla inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of the spring blossoms. The secluded path they were walking along was lined with them. A simple trading mission had brought them to this planet, and for that she was glad—it had been a long time since she'd seen such wonderful flowers. Flowers had been rare in Athos, and were completely non-existent in Atlantis. Even just the sweet aroma was enough to bring a smile to her face.

She heard a loud sneeze to her left and glanced over—evidently Dr. McKay did not feel the same about the flowers. His eyes were watering and his nose was red. "Are you alright Dr. McKay?" She asked, mildly concerned.

He let out another sneeze. "Oh yes, I'm absolutely perfect!" He snarled in response.

Ronon strode up from behind. "I think she meant are you in any serious danger."

Rodney let out an unhappy sigh as he did his best to wipe his nose on the sleeve of his jacket. "Well, unless you count sneezing to death, then yes, I'm absolutely…" He paused, inhaling sharply. "Achoo!" Both Teyla and Ronon cringed. "… Fine," Rodney finished, glaring at flowered shrubs along the edge of the road.

Teyla smiled as she took in the sight again. "You must admit they are beautiful."

Ronon and Rodney shared a skeptical glance, but didn't say anything.

"They remind me of those flowers from your world, Dr. McKay. The ones called…" Teyla searched for the right word, but it wouldn't come to her.

"Roses?" He asked, giving her the oddest look.

She shook her head. "No, roses are the ones with the thorns. These ones look similar to…" She sighed when she still couldn't think of the name. "John will know," she stated simply, half way through turning around to ask him. But when she was facing the way they'd come, there was no one there.

Any and all thoughts of flowers flew from her mind, and her heart rate increased with sudden alarm. "Where is he?" She asked.

Ronon and Rodney had stopped and were both looking back down the trail beside her. It was Rodney who answered. "He said he was falling back to check something out."

Ronon squared his shoulders and turned to face the scientist. "When did he say that, McKay?" He growled angrily.

Rodney sneezed once before shrugging meekly. "Five or ten minutes ago I guess. I was going to tell you guys, but the flowers…"

Teyla didn't hear the rest as she'd taken off at full pace down the trail. She raised her sidearm and nimbly flicked the safety off with her finger. This wasn't supposed to have been a dangerous mission, quite the opposite in fact, though they did not tend to have the best of luck with those sorts of things...

Teyla could hear Ronon running directly behind her, and the not so quiet McKay who was struggling with both trying to keep up and trying not to sneeze, but was achieving neither.

When she rounded the large bend in the path, she saw John. He was lying on the side of the road, curled up in a ball and… naked. Under any other circumstances she might have laughed, but he did not appear to be conscious, which sent her rushing even faster to his side.

* * *

John came to slowly. When his eyelids did finally flicker open he saw Teyla's concerned face hovering above his. He smiled at her, even though she wouldn't focus properly. Actually, if he looked close enough he could see two Teylas… his grin widened. He didn't mind that idea. Now if only he could find the flowers he'd been picking for her…

He tried to reach out with his hand to grab them, but all that achieved was a sharp increase of pressure around his wrists. He scrunched up his face in confusion. That didn't make sense. He tried again, yielding more confusion. He could hear Teyla, or the Teylas, saying something, but he couldn't make it out. He just wanted to grab those flowers…

This time he realized what the sharp pressure was. His hands were bound tightly together with a thick strand of rope. Trying to kick his feet he found that his ankles were tied as well. Instantaneously all the grogginess fell away and he was all too aware of his situation.

"John," Teyla said again, concerned though obviously trying to keep her voice steady. "Can you hear me?"

He groaned as a dull ache formed at the base of his skull. Teyla's face tightened with worry, so he forced a smile. "Yep, I can hear you."

She breathed a sigh of relief, and the next thing he knew her fingers were sliding around to the back of his head, gently probing the area. He winced when she placed pressure on the bump. "Owe," he said in indignation.

Teyla withdrew her hand and leaned back on her heels. "You have a large bump on the back of your head."

"Really?" He asked sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed."

Teyla ignored him. "It does not seem serious, though you should visit the infirmary when we return."

"Will do," he acknowledged.

Taking a quick look around he saw that Ronon was standing a few paces away, with his back turned. McKay was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Rodney?"

The words had barely left his lips when McKay came around the corner and spotted them. His breathing was labored, though that didn't stop him from gaping at John before rapidly averting his eyes. "You're naked?!" He exclaimed.

John felt all of the muscles in his body tense and he quickly looked down. Sure enough, he wasn't wearing any clothes. Shit. It was like that dream he'd had in high school, but about ten times worse. He'd thought it had felt kind of cold, but he'd attributed that to lying on the forest floor. Clearly the grogginess hadn't entirely faded away yet.

"Uh, yeah, apparently," he said in response. He curled up into a tighter ball, desperately trying to think if there was a least embarrassing position for him to be in at the moment, but they all seemed equally bad.

"What happened to you anyway Sheppard?" Ronon hadn't turned around to ask the question.

"Um…" He couldn't really think straight, not when he was exposed like this, and it certainly didn't help that the details weren't entirely clear. "I'll tell you later."

Teyla raised an eyebrow at him as she reached behind her back. "I believe I have a fairly good idea." She pulled out her knife and held it in front of her.

"Whoa!" John said loudly. "What are you doing with that?"

Teyla reached for his wrists. "I was going to undo your restraints, unless you'd prefer to keep them on."

John felt his face turn red. "Teyla I'm…" his voice fell to a whisper. "I'm _naked_." He spoke in normal tones again. "Give the knife to Rodney, he can do it."

McKay let out a noise that sounded something like a cross between a disgruntled huff and a cry of disbelief. "No," he said firmly. "I don't think so."

"Ronon?" John asked hopefully.

The Satedan responded with a snort. "No way."

Reluctantly John looked back at Teyla and nodded. "Fine," he said. "But just do my wrists, I'll get my ankles."

She nodded in acknowledgment, and surprisingly an amused smile crept onto her face.

"What's so funny?" He asked, angrily.

Teyla shook her head slightly as she reached for his wrists once more. "Nothing." She pressed the edge of the blade to the rope and began sawing through it slowly and carefully.

"Liar."

Her eyebrows shot up, but her gaze remained intently on the task, and for that he was grateful. The last thing he needed was for the knife to slip… he gulped. That would definitely not be good.

"You need not be embarrassed of your body," she told him earnestly.

"I'm not," he replied quickly.

"Then why are you nervous to have me look upon you?"

John was so glad that she was still looking at the rope.

"You are not the first man that I have seen unclothed."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

Teyla stopped working on the rope and turned her head to stare at him. Damn it, he really should have just kept his mouth shut.

"Then why are you so uneasy?" She queried.

"I just thought the first time you'd see me naked would be in a somewhat different context," he replied quietly, and without thinking.

Teyla's eyes went wide and she turned her head away. He could swear he saw a flush on her cheeks. She quickly resumed work on the restraint binding his wrists. Awkward silence filled the air as she ran the knife back and forth over the rope.

He could not believe he had just said that. Sure he'd thought of the possibility … maybe someday, but to make a comment about it like that…

Eventually the knife slipped through the last bit of the rope and it fell free. John pushed himself up into a sitting position, rubbing his wrists before taking the knife from Teyla's outstretched hand. "Thanks," he said quietly, tentativeness obvious in his tone.

She nodded in acknowledgement, acting as if everything was normal, as he set to work on the rope around his ankles.

"Ronon," Teyla called out. "Give me your shirt."

"What?!" He exclaimed, turning around to face her until he realized John was still naked, at which point he turned back around. "I don't see how me getting naked with him is going to help."

Teyla sighed in frustration as she stood up and strode over to Ronon. "Take off your shirt. You can keep your vest, but John will need something to wear on the way back to the gate."

"Yeah," John said as he pulled the remaining rope free. "I've been naked for long enough already." A few seconds later Ronon's shirt was flying through the air, and landing on John's head. He snatched the garment and pulled it on. Standing up he found that it came half way down his thighs, like some grotesque excuse for a dress.

"You two can turn around now," he added to Ronon and Rodney, which they did.

Ronon's shoulders trembled with restrained laughter. "Nice dress."

John glared at the taller man. "How about we just go now."

Ronon shook his head. "Nope. Not until you tell us what happened."

John's glare intensified. "I'd actually rather not."

Ronon shrugged. "Too bad. We're going to have to put it in the mission report, so you have to tell us. Oh, and you're going to have to explain to Weir how you lost all your clothes and weapons."

John groaned. "Just when I thought my day couldn't get any better," he said sarcastically. "Fine," he assented, deciding he would stick with the short version. "You know those bandits that the villagers had warned us about? The ones who find you alone on the road and steal all your stuff? That's what happened."

"So you were robbed," Ronon stated.

"Yes, in short. But it wasn't just a robbery, these guys were huge, and I was way outnumbered."

"We didn't hear any gunfire."

"They were sneaky, okay?"

Ronon shrugged, still obviously amused. "Whatever you say."

"Wait," Teyla said. "I thought the villagers informed us the bandits were a group of rogue orphans."

"Kids?" Rodney piped in. "You got robbed by a bunch of kids?"

John felt his face redden with embarrassment. "Fine, rub it in why don't you."

Ronon started laughing and nearly doubled over. "You were robbed by kids." Apparently saying it aloud again made it funnier, as he was now so overcome with laughter that he couldn't speak. Rodney just seemed annoyed by what had happened. In fact, Teyla was the only one who was showing any sympathy.

She placed her hand on John's lower arm gently, silently offering him comfort. It helped.

"Can we go _now_?" He asked, once Ronon had straightened himself up and caught his breath.

Ronon nodded and headed down the trail, taking point, and Rodney filed in behind him leaving Teyla with John at the rear. For the most part they walked in silence. John still couldn't believe he'd let slip what he had.

"John?" Teyla asked. "May I ask you a question?" She glanced at him sideways, innocently enough, but he could never really read women that well.

"Uh, sure," he replied, hoping she wasn't going to ask him about what he thought she was.

"Why did you fall back? What were you looking for?"

John stared down at his feet. "Nothing, just heard a noise."

"I do not believe you," she stated after a second. "If you had thought there was danger you would have warned us."

Damn, she'd caught him there. "It's stupid," he said in an attempt to shrug it off. But when he looked up and saw her inquiring glance, he started talking again. "I was just picking some flowers." He took a deep breath. "For you. They reminded me of lilies, those ones that were in the movie we watched. I remember that you liked them, so… yeah."

"So that is what they are called. I was trying to remember." She smiled at him before looking away timidly. "Thank you."

He smiled back. "Don't mention it."

A few moments later she spoke again. "I have thought about it as well."

He felt his face scrunch up in confusion. "Thought about what?"

She flushed slightly, but did not look away. "About being with you."

"Oh…" John said, taken completely by surprise. "You…uh… really?"

Teyla nodded, keeping her gaze fixed on him. "Yes."

"Wow, that's… wow." He honestly couldn't believe it. Not knowing what else to say, he settled for giving her another smile, one that was hopefully charming.

Teyla returned it and he felt his stomach do a back flip. He had no idea where this might lead them, but he was more than looking forward to finding out.

_The End_


End file.
